Prior to the 1986-87 season at the age of 21, Yzerman was named captain of the Red Wings and continuously served for the next two decades (dressing as captain for over 1,300 games), retiring as the longest-serving captain of any team in North American major league sports history. Once voted to be the most popular athlete in Detroit sports history, locals often simply refer to Yzerman as "The Captain."[4] Yzerman led the Wings to five first-place regular season finishes and 3 Stanley Cup championships (1997, 1998 and 2002).

On July 3, 2006, Yzerman officially retired from professional hockey, finishing his career ranked as the seventh all-time leading scorer in NHL history, having scored a career-high 155 points (65 goals and 90 assists) in 1988-89 which has been bettered only by Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux. Yzerman's #19 jersey was retired on January 2, 2007, during a pre-game ceremony at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. On November 4, 2008, he was inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame. He also became an honoured member of the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009, his first year of eligibility, inducted alongside 2001-02 Red Wing teammates Brett Hull and Luc Robitaille.[5]

On September 25, 2006, Yzerman was named as a vice-president of the Detroit Red Wings. He won a fourth Stanley Cup as the vice-president of operations in 2007-08. He then served as the team's alternate governor until his hiring as the general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning in May 2010.[6]

Yzerman has represented his country in several international tournaments as a member of Canada's national hockey team (Team Canada). In 2002, Yzerman won an Olympic gold medal, making him one of few players to win an Olympic gold medal and the Stanley Cup in the same year. Yzerman was the general manager of Team Canada for the 2007 IIHF World Championship, which they won. Yzerman was appointed executive director of Team Canada on October 7, 2008, for the 2010 Winter Olympics.[7] Team Canada went on to win the gold medal by defeating Team USA. Yzerman was again appointed executive director of Team Canada on March 5, 2012, for the 2014 Winter Olympics.[8] Canada went on to win their second-straight gold medal after defeating Sweden.[9]

The 1983 NHL Entry Draft was the first for Mike and Marian Ilitch, who had purchased the Detroit Red Wings in the summer of 1982. Jim Devellano, the Red Wings' then-general manager, wanted to draft Pat LaFontaine, who had grown up outside Detroit and played his junior hockey in the area. However, when the New York Islanders selected LaFontaine third overall, Devellano "settled" on Yzerman, drafting him fourth.[11][12]

The Red Wings were prepared to send Yzerman back to Peterborough for one more year, but "after one (training camp) season, you knew he was a tremendous hockey player," said Ken Holland, the current Red Wings general manager who was then a minor league goaltender for the Wings during Yzerman's rookie training camp.[13] Yzerman tallied 39 goals and 87 points in his rookie season and finished second in Calder Memorial Trophy (rookie of the year) voting.[14] That season, Yzerman also became the first 18-year-old to play in an NHL All-Star Game (18 years, 267 days) since the current format was adopted in 1969. This stood as an NHL record for 27 years until Jeff Skinner broke it by eight days.[15]

Becoming a leader

Following the departure of Red Wings captain Danny Gare after the 1985-86 season, then-Head Coach Jacques Demers named Yzerman captain of the team on October 7, 1986, making him the youngest captain in the team's history.[16] Demers said he "wanted a guy with the Red Wings crest tattooed on his chest."[17] The next season, Yzerman led the Wings to their first division title in 23 years.

When Scotty Bowman took over as coach in 1993, Yzerman initially chafed under Bowman's stern coaching style. Bowman, for his part, felt that Yzerman was not concentrating enough on defence; Bowman had long expected his forwards to be good back-checkers as well. Relations between the two became so strained that at one point, the Red Wings seriously considered trading him to the then-moribund Ottawa Senators. Yzerman, however, gradually became a better defender and is now considered one of the best two-way forwards in the history of the game.[18]

In 1995, Yzerman led Detroit to its first Stanley Cup finals series since 1966, but the Red Wings were swept by the New Jersey Devils. Before the start of the 1995-96 NHL season, Yzerman's leadership was called into question and soon he had to deal with rumours that he was to be traded to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for Mathieu Schneider and a first-round draft pick, a deal that was publicized in Le Journal de Montréal as being pushed for hard by Yzerman's former coach Jacques Demers. Detroit finished the season with an NHL-record 62 regular season wins and were heavily favoured to win the Stanley Cup. Yzerman scored perhaps the most memorable goal of his career in the 1996 playoffs, stealing the puck from Wayne Gretzky and beating St. Louis Blues goaltender Jon Casey with a slap shot from the blue line to win the Western Conference Semifinals in double overtime of Game 7.[19] The Red Wings, however, fell short of their ultimate goal, losing in six games to the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference Finals.

The glory years

In 1997, Yzerman put to rest all doubts of his ability to lead a team to a championship as Detroit won its first Stanley Cup in 42 years after sweeping the Philadelphia Flyers. The following year, Detroit repeated the feat, sweeping the Washington Capitals and winning their second consecutive Cup title. Yzerman earned the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. He handed the Cup first to the wheelchair-bound Vladimir Konstantinov, who had been severely injured in a car accident just six days after the Cup victory in 1997.[20]

With the Stanley Cup present (l), US President George W. Bush receives a commemorative jersey and mini-Cup from 2002 Stanley Cup Champion Steve Yzerman.

In 2001-02, Yzerman re-aggravated a knee injury, forcing him to miss 30 regular season games,[21] though nonetheless still finished sixth in team scoring. Yzerman's knee greatly pained him during the 2002 playoffs, but this did not stop him from leading the Red Wings from an early 2-0 deficit in their opening round series to defeat the Vancouver Canucks and St. Louis Blues en route to Detroit's fifth playoff series with Colorado, and the third time the two teams had battled to decide the Western Conference Championship. Detroit defeated Colorado in a seven-game series and moved on to the Stanley Cup Finals, where they defeated the Carolina Hurricanes to win their tenth Stanley Cup championship in their history. Rather than raising the Stanley Cup first, Yzerman passed the Cup to Head Coach Scotty Bowman, who announced his retirement following the game.[22]

Late career

That fall, Yzerman underwent a knee realignment surgery known as an osteotomy. He missed the first 66 games of the 2002-03 season but returned on February 24, 2003 at home against Los Angeles.

On May 1, 2004, Yzerman was hit in the eye by a deflected slapshot by the Calgary Flames defenceman Rhett Warrener in a playoff game, breaking his orbital bone and scratching his cornea. Yzerman underwent eye surgery following the incident, and was sidelined for the rest of the 2004 post-season. The eye injury also forced Yzerman to miss the 2004 World Cup of Hockey. Fellow Canadians Joe Thornton (then of the Boston Bruins) and Joe Sakic (Colorado), who each wore the number 19 for their respective NHL clubs and who were now eligible to wear it for team Canada due to Yzerman's enforced absence, both refused the number out of respect for their injured countryman. Yzerman returned in the 2005-06 season, following the labour lock-out in 2004-05, wearing a face shield.

On August 2, 2005, Yzerman signed a one-year deal with the Red Wings; this was his last contract signed as a player. On March 31, 2006, he scored his 691st NHL career goal, passing Mario Lemieux for eighth place all-time. Yzerman's humility was evident in an interview regarding his achievement after the game when he was quoted saying, "I don't really know the significance. If anything, it shows how good [Lemieux] is; he played almost five years less than I did."[23][24] He scored his final NHL goal, the 692nd of his career, on April 3, 2006, in a game against Calgary. Yzerman played his last professional hockey game on May 1, 2006, a loss to the Edmonton Oilers in game 6 of the first round of the 2006 playoffs.

On July 3, 2006, Yzerman announced his retirement from the NHL. Shortly afterwards, Sports Illustrated published a special commemorative edition dedicated to Yzerman entitled "Yzerman: A Salute to Stevie Y," which featured Yzerman's first appearance on the cover of the magazine.

Yzerman holds the NHL record as the longest-serving captain of a single team--he spent 19 seasons, 20 total years and 1,303 games wearing the "C."[25] In addition to being eighth all-time in NHL regular-season goals and sixth in overall scoring, Yzerman finished his career seventh all-time in regular season assists and eighth in all-time playoff scoring. He also ranks second in nearly every significant offensive category in Red Wings history behind Gordie Howe, save for assists--Yzerman has 1,063 assists to Howe's 1,020. Only Howe (1,687 games), Nicklas Lidström (1,564 games) and Alex Delvecchio (1,550 games) played more games as a Red Wing than Yzerman's 1,514.

Front office

On September 25, 2006, the Red Wings named Yzerman a team vice-president and alternate governor.

Yzerman's #19 banner hanging in Joe Louis Arena.

On January 2, 2007, the Red Wings retired Yzerman's jersey #19 before a game against the Anaheim Ducks.[26] As an additional honour, the captain's "C" was added to the corner of his banner to forever commemorate him as "The Captain." The official retirement ceremony was hosted by Yzerman's long-time friend, former NHL goaltender and ESPN hockey analyst Darren Pang, and featured such Red Wing luminaries as Gordie Howe, Ted Lindsay, Alex Delvecchio, and Scotty Bowman. For the ceremony, active Red Wings players wore Yzerman throwback jerseys representing the Red Wings, Team Canada (Canada won gold at the 2002 Salt Lake CityWinter Olympic Games), the Campbell Conference All-Star Team and the Peterborough Petes. Former teammate Vladimir Konstantinov attended the ceremony, walking across the ice for the first time without a wheelchair since his last game in the 1997 playoffs.[27]

On January 30, 2007, Hockey Canada named Yzerman the general manager of Team Canada for the 2007 IIHF World Championship in Moscow (April 27 - May 13), where the team beat Finland 4-2 on May 13 to win the Championship. On January 11, 2008, when the Red Wings visited Ottawa to play the Senators, Yzerman was inducted into the Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame.[30] Yzerman received another honour when he was inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame on February 11, 2008. Yzerman was voted as the NHL's greatest captain by the fans in the 2008-09 season.

On June 23, 2009, it was announced that Yzerman would be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. He was honoured during the November 6-9 induction weekend alongside his former Red Wings teammates Brett Hull and Luc Robitaille, as well as Brian Leetch.[31]

2010 Olympics

In 2009, Yzerman was named executive director for the Canadian men's hockey team at the 2010 Winter Olympics. The Canadian team he put together went on to win the gold, the first gold won by a home team in ice hockey since the 1980 USA Olympic hockey team. Yzerman said he would consider coming back as head of the Canadian team in 2014. Yzerman went on saying, "I loved it, but it was very stressful. Given the chance to represent Canada and be the guy in charge, if somebody offered it to me, I didn't hesitate the first time, I wouldn't hesitate again."[32]

Leaving Detroit for Tampa Bay

Yzerman had expressed his desire to run a team while with the Red Wings front office since the latter part of his playing career, and had gained experience in running a team through his work with Hockey Canada, having assembled several rosters between 2007 and 2010 for Hockey Canada.[33] However, after Red Wings General Manager Ken Holland, the team's GM since 1997, was given a contract extension to continue in his role, and with his path to GM also blocked by Assistant General Manager Jim Nill, who himself had been given another long-term deal, it became clear that it would not be with the Red Wings. It was later revealed by The Detroit News in 2016 that Red Wings owner Mike Ilitch attempted to promote Holland to make room for Yzerman to become the team's General Manager, but Holland declined the promotion.[34]

While the Lightning would miss the playoffs in each of the next two seasons, the team would reach the Stanley Cup Finals in 2015, where they were defeated by the Chicago Blackhawks. On June 24, 2015, Yzerman was awarded the NHL General Manager of the Year Award, becoming the first Lightning GM to receive the honour in team history. The team built by Yzerman set franchise records with 50 wins and 108 points during the regular season, and also led the League with 262 goals and 32 home wins.[38]

Sochi 2014 Olympics

In 2012, Yzerman was named executive director for the Canadian men's hockey team at the 2014 Winter Olympics.[8] The Canadian team he put together went on to win their second-straight gold medal, the first nation to win back-to-back gold medals since the Soviet Union won three-straight in 1984, 1988 and 1992. Following Canada's 3-0 victory over Sweden in the gold medal game, Yzerman announced that he would not return as the executive director for Canada for the 2018 Winter Games.[39]

Yzerman was considered a leading candidate for the captaincy of Team Canada in 1998, along with Wayne Gretzky and Ray Bourque. Yzerman had led the Detroit Red Wings to the Stanley Cup during the previous season and was one of the longest-serving team captains. However, General Manager Bobby Clarke instead selected Eric Lindros.

In late 2005, after Yzerman ruled himself out of a third Olympic appearance, Wayne Gretzky announced that no one would be allowed to wear jersey #19 for Canada for the 2006 Olympics in Yzerman's honour (#19 was later "unretired" by Yzerman when he managed Team Canada for the 2010 Olympics).[40]

Not far from where Yzerman grew up, the Nepean Sportsplex named one of its indoor ice surfaces the Steve Yzerman Arena in 1997 in his honour. This is the home rink of the CJHL's Nepean Raiders, the Tier II Junior "A" team Yzerman played on during the 1980-81 season. The Raiders currently play in the Yzerman Division.

The CJHL divisions have been renamed the Robinson and Yzerman divisions after two of its most prominent alumni, Yzerman and Larry Robinson.